If Tomorrow Falls Asleep, Fringe fic, P/O
Title: If Tomorrow Falls Asleep
Rating: PG
Summary: How I imagine they might spend their last night on earth, before the final battle. Based on Last Night On Earth, by Delta Goodrem. Oneshot, songfic.
It's the last night on earth before the great divide
My hands are shaking time was never on our side
Tomorrow everything will be over, she knows that much. No matter how many years they've been together, how many years they were in the amber, how much time's snuck away from them, how much time they missed, simply frozen, unable to do a thing or think anything, it's all going to come to a head tomorrow. It's their final battle, and they're going to fight to the very end, fight their war one last time. She doesn't know where they're going to find themselves this time tomorrow, she'd rather not think about that, because somewhere down inside her she's just got a feeling that they won't be here, together, they'll either one or both be gone, finished.
She takes a deep sigh, and Peter looks up at her then, hunched over in fear on their camp-bed in the bunker, his eyes meeting hers saying far more than he could ever hope to find the words for.
It's never enough
"I love you, you know that, right?" she says, and she can even hear the pain, the dread in her own voice, and years ago, before their 20 years in amber, before everything they've seen together, every battle they've fought, she would have hated herself for it.
She doesn't have time for that anymore. She's far more of a self-forgiving person. She finds it far easier to see the positives in what's she's learnt from what she's done wrong, rather than the flaws in herself for every mistake she's made.
"Of course I know that. I love you too." He breathes, and there's something about him saying that that chills her more than much else. Peter's never been one for saying it very often, and he's never thrown it straight back at her when the words came out of her own mouth; she's suddenly more freezing cold than she was moments ago, even more resigned to her fate.
It's like Peter knows these might be their last hours together, like he can't waste another single opportunity to tell her.
If tomorrow never comes I want you to know right now that I
I'm gonna love you until the day I die
Can you hold me first?
She doesn't speak for a few more moments, so many words on her tongue, so little ambition to say them - she knows, with everything they both say, it's giving a little more reality to her increasing dread that they're in their last moments alone together. She lets him put his arms around her and leans her head against his shoulder, letting her eyes close for a moment, somehow saying more without any words than she would have been able to vocalise.
"Etta-"
"Is going to be fine." He finishes firmly, kissing the back of her neck tenderly. "She grew up so wonderful, Liv, she's her own perfect person…"
She tilts her head and turns it slightly, then, so she can meet his eyes. "You ever wish we had been here for all of her childhood? You ever wish we had been here to watch our daughter grow up?"
He shakes his head at her a little, as if he can't even believe she's asking that question. "I never stop wishing…" is the only answer he breathes, and she meets his mouth with hers then, because it's the only way she thinks she can help him.
A penny for your thoughts, a picture so it lasts
Your fingers on my skin, only you can hear my fear
Their kissing is hot and heated for a moment, their brains shut down, and they don't think, just for a second. In those moments it's like the first few times their lips ever met, back years before Etta was born, back when they weren't one hundred percent comfortable, they were still slightly wary, but they weren't anywhere near as terrified of the world they lived in as they are today. And with reason, as well; that, Olivia thinks, is possibly the most heart-breaking thing.
They break apart then, and she reads in the face she's come to know almost better than her own; that it's slightly more flushed, slightly more aroused, longing for something slightly more.
"How naïve we were when we had her," Peter almost laughs, tucking a blonde wave behind her ear, "I think we thought we had forever together, Liv…"
"I still wish we'd have forever together…" she breathes, and she's expecting to hear nothing more than a whisper, to loathe the fear in her own voice, but instead she sounds strong, fearless, as if she has some kind of deluded faith that they might find their way out of the impossible maze that tomorrow's going to be.
The afterglow, the horizon line
The shadows fall, will you still be mine?
"We'll have something else…" he whispers, so quietly she can hardly hear a thing, it's almost as if he's voicing his thoughts, "After everything we've seen… there's gotta be something else…" he smiles slightly and meets her eyes. "Walter's gotta be somewhere…"
Something that trivial, in the end, is the only thing that's made her smile all night.
"He'd have been with us til the very last moment tomorrow…" she breathes, and Peter buries his head in her hair for a moment; as if he's got to gather himself and compose his face before she can see it.
"Maybe it's better for him, really, that he's not going to have to fight tomorrow."
"Maybe." She murmurs her own agreement, and then she tucks her face into his neck, worryingly conscious that everything they do right now, it's nearer to the last time. She takes a deep breath, and he smells musky and maybe slightly spicy, and it's one of those silly things, but she finds the tears she's fought so hard all evening keeping down rise in her throat.
Soon will be the last time she smells him.
If tomorrow never comes I want you to know right now that I
I'm gonna love you until the day I die
"There's so much we haven't done…" she chokes out, and when he realises she's crying he wraps his arms tighter around her, as if he can protect her from the inevitable future, as if if he holds her tight enough, he'll be able to keep her safe. Eventually, her crying stops. She doesn't have enough energy left in her to waste any more of it on tears. She pulls back slightly then, and when he looks into her eyes, they're dark and ready for him - he knows what she wants, straight away.
Before they'd sat alone, together in that bunker, he'd thought of almost a hundred ways to tell her no, that that wasn't where tonight was going, to reduce it more to the brutal honesty of conversation. But there's something in her eyes right now that he both understands implicitly and can't bring himself to argue with. She needs him, right now; she needs him, one last time.
He pushes his mouth suddenly and violently against hers, their teeth clashing and their noses bumping and bruising, with all the elegance of a shoddy first kiss, but there's something beautiful about it. It's somehow a promise, a tribute to the lives they've led together, and some delusional hope for their future.
He closes his eyes, and for a while, they ignore everything that's been, the end that's coming. For a while, they've only got each other.
If tomorrow falls asleep can you hold me first?
I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on earth
Rating: PG
Summary: How I imagine they might spend their last night on earth, before the final battle. Based on Last Night On Earth, by Delta Goodrem. Oneshot, songfic.
It's the last night on earth before the great divide
My hands are shaking time was never on our side
Tomorrow everything will be over, she knows that much. No matter how many years they've been together, how many years they were in the amber, how much time's snuck away from them, how much time they missed, simply frozen, unable to do a thing or think anything, it's all going to come to a head tomorrow. It's their final battle, and they're going to fight to the very end, fight their war one last time. She doesn't know where they're going to find themselves this time tomorrow, she'd rather not think about that, because somewhere down inside her she's just got a feeling that they won't be here, together, they'll either one or both be gone, finished.
She takes a deep sigh, and Peter looks up at her then, hunched over in fear on their camp-bed in the bunker, his eyes meeting hers saying far more than he could ever hope to find the words for.
It's never enough
"I love you, you know that, right?" she says, and she can even hear the pain, the dread in her own voice, and years ago, before their 20 years in amber, before everything they've seen together, every battle they've fought, she would have hated herself for it.
She doesn't have time for that anymore. She's far more of a self-forgiving person. She finds it far easier to see the positives in what's she's learnt from what she's done wrong, rather than the flaws in herself for every mistake she's made.
"Of course I know that. I love you too." He breathes, and there's something about him saying that that chills her more than much else. Peter's never been one for saying it very often, and he's never thrown it straight back at her when the words came out of her own mouth; she's suddenly more freezing cold than she was moments ago, even more resigned to her fate.
It's like Peter knows these might be their last hours together, like he can't waste another single opportunity to tell her.
If tomorrow never comes I want you to know right now that I
I'm gonna love you until the day I die
Can you hold me first?
She doesn't speak for a few more moments, so many words on her tongue, so little ambition to say them - she knows, with everything they both say, it's giving a little more reality to her increasing dread that they're in their last moments alone together. She lets him put his arms around her and leans her head against his shoulder, letting her eyes close for a moment, somehow saying more without any words than she would have been able to vocalise.
"Etta-"
"Is going to be fine." He finishes firmly, kissing the back of her neck tenderly. "She grew up so wonderful, Liv, she's her own perfect person…"
She tilts her head and turns it slightly, then, so she can meet his eyes. "You ever wish we had been here for all of her childhood? You ever wish we had been here to watch our daughter grow up?"
He shakes his head at her a little, as if he can't even believe she's asking that question. "I never stop wishing…" is the only answer he breathes, and she meets his mouth with hers then, because it's the only way she thinks she can help him.
A penny for your thoughts, a picture so it lasts
Your fingers on my skin, only you can hear my fear
Their kissing is hot and heated for a moment, their brains shut down, and they don't think, just for a second. In those moments it's like the first few times their lips ever met, back years before Etta was born, back when they weren't one hundred percent comfortable, they were still slightly wary, but they weren't anywhere near as terrified of the world they lived in as they are today. And with reason, as well; that, Olivia thinks, is possibly the most heart-breaking thing.
They break apart then, and she reads in the face she's come to know almost better than her own; that it's slightly more flushed, slightly more aroused, longing for something slightly more.
"How naïve we were when we had her," Peter almost laughs, tucking a blonde wave behind her ear, "I think we thought we had forever together, Liv…"
"I still wish we'd have forever together…" she breathes, and she's expecting to hear nothing more than a whisper, to loathe the fear in her own voice, but instead she sounds strong, fearless, as if she has some kind of deluded faith that they might find their way out of the impossible maze that tomorrow's going to be.
The afterglow, the horizon line
The shadows fall, will you still be mine?
"We'll have something else…" he whispers, so quietly she can hardly hear a thing, it's almost as if he's voicing his thoughts, "After everything we've seen… there's gotta be something else…" he smiles slightly and meets her eyes. "Walter's gotta be somewhere…"
Something that trivial, in the end, is the only thing that's made her smile all night.
"He'd have been with us til the very last moment tomorrow…" she breathes, and Peter buries his head in her hair for a moment; as if he's got to gather himself and compose his face before she can see it.
"Maybe it's better for him, really, that he's not going to have to fight tomorrow."
"Maybe." She murmurs her own agreement, and then she tucks her face into his neck, worryingly conscious that everything they do right now, it's nearer to the last time. She takes a deep breath, and he smells musky and maybe slightly spicy, and it's one of those silly things, but she finds the tears she's fought so hard all evening keeping down rise in her throat.
Soon will be the last time she smells him.
If tomorrow never comes I want you to know right now that I
I'm gonna love you until the day I die
"There's so much we haven't done…" she chokes out, and when he realises she's crying he wraps his arms tighter around her, as if he can protect her from the inevitable future, as if if he holds her tight enough, he'll be able to keep her safe. Eventually, her crying stops. She doesn't have enough energy left in her to waste any more of it on tears. She pulls back slightly then, and when he looks into her eyes, they're dark and ready for him - he knows what she wants, straight away.
Before they'd sat alone, together in that bunker, he'd thought of almost a hundred ways to tell her no, that that wasn't where tonight was going, to reduce it more to the brutal honesty of conversation. But there's something in her eyes right now that he both understands implicitly and can't bring himself to argue with. She needs him, right now; she needs him, one last time.
He pushes his mouth suddenly and violently against hers, their teeth clashing and their noses bumping and bruising, with all the elegance of a shoddy first kiss, but there's something beautiful about it. It's somehow a promise, a tribute to the lives they've led together, and some delusional hope for their future.
He closes his eyes, and for a while, they ignore everything that's been, the end that's coming. For a while, they've only got each other.
If tomorrow falls asleep can you hold me first?
I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on earth